EDUCATION UPDATE - February 2008

African American Leaders
Shape History
Barack Obama on Education
By Sybil Maimin
Education has not received much attention in the Presidential campaign so far...MORE

Reverend Dr. Calvin O. Butts, III & Thurgood Marshall Academy
By Sybil Maimin
Harlem is experiencing a new Renaissance, and the 560 lucky middle and high school students who attend Thurgood Marshall Academy for Learning and Social Change (TMA) on West 135th Street are part of the altered landscape...MORE

Thoughts on the Candidacy of Barack Obama
By Daryl Williams
Barack Obama’s candidacy represents the culmination of an American Dream and is a glimpse of the America to come...MORE

Special Education News
Gateway School Tackles Learning Disabilities
By Sybil Maimin
Reflecting a growing need, the Gateway School, which serves children ages 5 to 12 who have learning disabilities, has grown from three students at its inception in 1964 to a current enrollment of sixty and looks forward to eventually having eighty students in a middle school to be created this fall...MORE

David Gottlieb: Outstanding Student at Gateway School
By Dr. Pola Rosen
If David Gottlieb is representative of the student body at Gateway, then indeed the school deserves its fine reputation of nurturing, educating and leading its students to success....MORE

A Letter from Dr. Harold Koplewicz
When we launched our “Ransom Notes” public awareness campaign this December, our intent was to spark a dialogue about America’s last silent public health crisis–the millions of children who suffer from untreated psychiatric and learning disorders....MORE

Reading Process Decoded at Lindamood-Bell
By Sybil Maimin
With 41 learning centers across the US, one in London, and additional facilities planned, Lindamood-Bell, which offers training in the sensory-cognitive processes necessary for successful reading and comprehension, is clearly doing something right....MORE

FROM THE NYU CHILD STUDY CENTER: ASK THE EXPERT
Kids and Allowances
By Glenn S. Hirsch, M.D.
When my children were growing up, I found the topic of money and spending a difficult one to navigate with them....MORE

Kennedy Child Study Center
Preschool Special Education Thrives in Manhattan & the Bronx
By Emily Sherwood, Ph.D.
It’s 3 PM on a frosty winter afternoon, pick-up time at the Manhattan site of the Kennedy Child Study Center (KCSC)....MORE

The Only Integrated Preschool in NYC for Children with Vision Impairment
Lighthouse’s International President and CEO Tara A. Cortes, RN, Phd. IBM VP of Corporate Citizenship and President of the IBM Foundation Stan Litow conducted a tour of the Center’s new IBM Young Explorers....MORE

GUEST EDITORIAL

Guest Editorial
School Meal Lines Shouldn’t Be Trash Lines
By State Senator Liz Krueger
A lot of unnecessary waste works its way through our school system on a daily basis, particularly at breakfast and lunchtime....MORE

SPOTLIGHT ON SCHOOLS

PROFILES IN EDUCATION
An Interview with Dr. Tony Bryk, New President of Carnegie Foundation
By Joan Baum, Ph.D.
It’s clear that Anthony S. Bryk is not only “privileged” and “honored” to have been selected as the next president of one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious education institutions, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, a post he officially takes up in September 1—he’s also delighted at the “challenge” to hasten urban school reform, particularly in regard to the integration of technology to foster and enhance teaching and learning....MORE

PROFILES IN EDUCATION
An Interview with Vice Admiral Joseph D. Stewart, Merchant Marine Academy
By Joan Baum, Ph.D.
Of the five United States service academies—the Army at West Point, the Navy at Annapolis, the Coast Guard in New London, CT, the Air Force in Colorado Springs—the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA), located on 82 glorious acres in Kings Point, L.I., is perhaps the least understood, an irony, considering that it is so close to the city and that its authorization in 1936, its full accreditation as a degree-granting institution in 1949 and its designation in 1956 as a permanent federal academic institution signaled a deepening investment by the government in maritime education....MORE

UNION PRESIDENTS SPEAK
A Warming Trend Despite Cold Economic Reality
By Ernest Logan
It was cold in Albany as I listened to Gov. Eliot Spitzer deliver his State of the State address early last month, but I was warmed by his words as he outlined his efforts to temper the effects of an increasingly troubled economy on his commitment to education....MORE

UNION PRESIDENTS SPEAK
School Report Card Risks
By Randi Weingarten
When making comparisons or judging the quality of goods or services, people often find it convenient to use letter grades because they can convey complex impressions quickly and simply....MORE

THE DEAN'S COLUMN
Averting a Crisis in Mathematics Instruction
By Dr. Alfred S. Posamentier
As if mathematics teachers did not have enough to worry about with the constant focus on their students’ performance on standardized tests—further exacerbated by the No Child Left Behind law—beginning September 2008 New York City high schools will be introducing a new geometry course which is part of the New York State mathematics standards initiative....MORE

A Force for British Style Band Music at King’s Point
By Joan Baum, Ph.D.
Captain Kenneth R. Force, Director of Music and leader for 37 years of the Regimental Band of the United States Merchant Marine Academy is a force of human nature....MORE

10th Annual Virtual Enterprise Competition at Deloitte Touche
By Alberto Cepeda
Virtual Enterprise International (VE) recently held its annual Citywide Business Plan Competition at the Deloitte & Touche Offices at the World Financial Center in Lower Manhattan....MORE

Education Key To Polar Bear Survival
By Jan Aaron
The chunky shape ahead might be a rock....MORE

Free Teaching Resources:
African American History & More
By Kirk Winters
African American History Month
Features more than 60 resources related to African American history....MORE

High-Need Schools Participate In School-Wide Performance Pay Program
Chancellor Joel I. Klein and United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten announced recently that more than 200 high-need schools will participate in New York City’s first-ever school-wide performance bonus program and that $15 million in private funds have been committed to date to support this initiative....MORE

High School Dropouts:
A Problem For Girls And Boys
An alarmingly high number of girls are dropping out of high school and these female dropouts are at particular economic risk compared to their male counterparts, according to a report by the National Women’s Law Center....MORE

Michigan First State to Have Online Requirement for HS Grad
Susan Patrick, President & CEO of the North American Council for Online Learning (NACOL), and John Watson, founder of Evergreen Consulting and author of the annual Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning report, will give the closing keynote address titled, “Current and Future Trends in Online Learning” at Michigan Virtual University’s Online Learning Symposium in February....MORE

New Leaders for New Schools
New Leaders for New Schools is a national nonprofit organization that recruits extremely talented individuals to become urban public school principals....MORE

New Report by Educational Testing Service: Family Factors Critical to Closing Achievement Gap
Gaps in the critical home conditions and experiences of young children mirror achievement gaps that begin early in life and persist through high school, according to a new report from ETS....MORE

PTA Leads in Closing Achievement Gap
In an effort to close the achievement gap for urban and underserved students, three major parent, teacher and education organizations are joining to create pilot programs, community-based projects, and resources....MORE

Building Custom Guitars
Your students know what an electric guitar is—some probably play them—but do they know how a guitar is made?...MORE

COLLEGES & GRAD SCHOOLS

Graduate School: The Application Process in a Nutshell
By Judith Aquino
There are good news and bad news for those applying to graduate school....MORE

Dean Jerrold Ross, St. John’s U Hosts Korean Teachers
The School of Education hosted a professional development program for 37 teachers and 3 supervisors from Gyeonggi Province, the Republic of Korea (South)....MORE

Judith Shapiro, Pres. Of Barnard College To Join Common Cents As Board Chair
Common Cents is pleased to announce that Judith Shapiro, President of Barnard College, has accepted the position of chair of the Board of Trustees of Common Cents, effective immediately....MORE

NYU & Baruch Professors Present “Stereotype Threat” For Women in Math Courses
In a field study in the latest issue of the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, women at the high end of math ability outperform their male counterparts on tests when the test is described as free of gender differences....MORE

Dean Anthony Polemeni, Touro Graduate School of Ed Honored as “Educator of the Year”
The Columbia University Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa, the Professional Association in Education honored Anthony Polemeni, Ph.D., with the prestigious “Educator of the Year” Award at its annual Winter Awards Banquet at Columbia’s Faculty House....MORE

BOOKS

Logos Bookstore’s Recommendations
By H. Harris Healy, III, President, Logos Bookstore
The middle of winter is upon us, Valentine’s Day is coming soon and Logos has wonderful Valentine Day cards, and love related books from such authors as Stendhal, Thomas Hardy, Jane Austen, Abelard to Cynthia Heimel among others, as well as related poetry by Ovid, Robert Browning, Elizabeth Browning, William Wordsworth and Shakespeare....MORE

Celebrate Black History Month With Fascinating Picture Book Biographies
By Selene Vasquez
“I did not start as cabin boy, climb the ranks to able-bodied seaman, sail to five continents, and learn trades and foreign tongues to be shunned by white crews.”...MORE

Review of Why Our Schools Need The Arts
It’s time to stop justifying the arts because they can help our children do better on their SATs or other standardized tests, urges Jessica Hoffman Davis in this impassioned, if slender, volume....MORE

CHILDREN"S CORNER

From the Superintendent's Office
An Organized 2008
By Dr. Carole G. Hankin with Randi T. Sachs
How are you doing on your New Year’s resolutions?...MORE

CAREERS

CAMPS AND SPORTS

LIU Blackbirds Trounce Wagner, 85-65 in NEC Clash
By Richard Kagan
The Long Island University Blackbirds had some questions to answer....MORE

Summer Career Exploration Program For Students With Hearing Loss
The Explore Your Future (EYF) program at Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf offers college-bound high school sophomores and juniors with hearing loss a unique opportunity to experience life on a college campus, explore their interests and sample various careers....MORE

Lycée Français Summer Camp
The Lycée Français de New York will host its annual Summer Camp from June 23rd to July 25th, 2008....MORE

MEDICAL UPDATE

Scientists Identify Brain Abnormalities Underlying Key Element of Borderline Personality Disorder
Using new approaches, an interdisciplinary team of scientists at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City has gained a view of activity in key brain areas associated with a core difficulty in patients with borderline personality disorder—shedding new light on this serious psychiatric condition....MORE

MOVIE REVIEW

A Review of Holly
By Gillian Granoff
Recently, several notable celebrities, UN representatives, policy makers, and film industry insiders gathered together to view the screening of Holly, the highly acclaimed film starring Ron Livingston, Chris Penn, Udo Kier and Virginie Ledoyen....MORE

MUSIC, ART & DANCE

Building Custom Guitars
Your students know what an electric guitar is—some probably play them—but do they know how a guitar is made?...MORE

MUSEUMS AS EDUCATORS

National Memorial Seeking Educators for Fellowship Program
The Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum invites educators from across the country to participate in a five-day fellowship at the museum in Oklahoma City, June 22-27, 2008....MORE

MODERN LANGUAGES

Concordia Language Villages 2008
Concordia Language Villages, a non-profit organization sponsored by Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn., now offers 15 languages each summer to nearly 6000 youth between the ages of 7 and 18....MORE